CDC Emerging Infectious Diseases

Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) is a peer-reviewed, open-access monthly journal published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since 1995. It covers the epidemiology, ecology, and evolution of emerging and re-emerging infectious disease threats globally, with a particular focus on pathogens with epidemic or pandemic potential. ISSN 1080-6059. EID is indexed in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus and is freely accessible without subscription — a policy that reflects the CDC's public-health mission to disseminate research to practitioners, policymakers, and the public simultaneously with the scientific community.

The journal publishes original research, policy analysis, commentary, and dispatches on novel or resurging pathogens. It is among the most-cited infectious disease journals globally and serves as a primary venue for CDC researchers, WHO collaborators, and independent scientists to publish outbreak-linked research. Its editorial standards apply standard peer review but also accept expedited publication pathways for urgent public health findings during active outbreaks.

In the cross-topic context, any Lowdown briefing citing CDC research is likely citing an EID publication. The journal is the primary public-record venue for CDC findings on pandemic pathogens, vaccine-preventable diseases, and antimicrobial resistance.

In May 2026, EID published a paper confirming that the B3.13 H5N1 clade replicates more efficiently in human nasal tissue than earlier strains — a finding that elevated the pandemic-risk assessment of the ongoing US dairy cattle H5N1 outbreak. The paper was a key data point in the emerging debate over whether the USDA's simultaneous rollback of mandatory interstate cattle testing represented a regulatory risk.